Skipper Billy

Following on from the quick and dirty stack last week - this is the final version. Still very noisy but its only 3 hours of data - 1 hour each of RGB binned 1x1. Found the elusive colour! Leo Triplet - 60% cropped. 4" frac and Atik 16200, Baader LRGB filters. Processed entirely in Pixinsight.

Hi res here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/113316085@N05/49818113391/in/dateposted-public/

Hi Carole

I have just found a brand new unopened pack of desiccant tablets for an Atik 460 in my box of bits that I am sorting out.

Just PM me your address if you would like them.

You could always look at groups of Galaxies such as the Leo Triplet or Markarian's Chain ???

These were taken with a 530mm FL scope and a large sensor (Atik 16200)

This was my ST80 with a QHY5 - it required an 80mm extender to reach ficus - you can see it in the middle of this photo.

I have a serious grievance with my Mesu - and it has not been resolved.

It is the most boring mount I have ever owned. I switch it on and it guides at ~0.4" total RMS all night long - every night.

I am going to have to find something else to adjust backlash on and convert to belt drive and mess bout adjusting and greasing with snake oil etc to occupy my time.

There is no fun in this - it's really not good enough 😉 

That's a cracker - well done !

Hi Adam

It was pretty much all the basic setup stuff but the one thing I didn't want to mess up (because it took so long to get right!) was the over pole and under pole settings along with what should be reversed after a Meridian Flip and making it play nicely with SGP and PHD2.

Thankfully it appeared to be saved and last night it worked completely unattended inc a Meridian Flip etc.

There are no obvious differences in the latest firmware and software but I like to be up to date - especially whilst I have time to put it right if it had gone wrong!

Lovely image and one I don't think I have seen before.

Well done.

A quick look at the Leo Triplet from last night. We only have 3 hours of astro dark at this time of year so its just 1 hour each of RGB binned 1x1. 4" frac and Atik 16200. I have never tried imaging in >25kts of wind but even though the guiding was over 1" total RMS I am reasonably happy with the results for just 3 hours of data. Calibrated with darks, bias and flats and processed entirely in Pixinsight.

Hi Res full frame https://www.flickr.com/photos/113316085@N05/49801719437/in/album-72157675109735132/

Hi res cropped https://www.flickr.com/photos/113316085@N05/49801406311/in/album-72157675109735132/

For the benefit of anyone asking themselves the same question that I posted above - updating the software and firmware DOES RETAIN all settings.

Phew !!! 😉 

Cheers Alan. I usually packup on or around my my birthday (8th April) as its usually a pointless exercise after that - its not really dark until midnight and too light again by 0300.

But sadly I dont have to get up early for work at the moment - every cloud = silver lining etc 😉 

I had packed up my gear for the summer but the promise of 5 nights clear skies with no moon, no wind, no clouds etc and not having to get up for work in the morning prompted me to drag it all out of hibernation and get cracking! This is just 90 mins of Lum and 20 mins each of RGB binned 2x2. The plan was to spend two or three nights on this target but a bad dose of Hay Fever and not being able to see properly put paid to that! So its noisy and lacking depth but in terms of numbers of Galaxies in one frame its tremendous value for money.

I was very surprised how little colour there is in it - maybe its just my poor attempt at capture and processing?

Hi Res version here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/113316085@N05/49796710693/in/album-72157675109735132/

I am thinking about updating the firmware and software in my Mesu mount.

Q. Does it retain all the settings (the settings I have worked so hard to get spot on!)

Any helpful online resources ?

I have all summer to sort it out if it goes wrong - I will backup the current files too. 😉 

I would second using SGP - the focus routine is superb.

If you really want to use Focusmax you can get a slightly older version for free from here (which also works superbly)

https://www.astronomylog.co.uk/focusmax-downloads/

I am game. Here are a couple of the better ones from last night. They are date and time stamped. Location 56.6N 5.6W

A few lovely meteors and the Milky Way looking very elegant gliding across the night sky.

I dont keep stats but I would guess that on average I actually image for about 35 mins an hour - the other 25 mins being taken up with download time, recovering from dithering, cloud knocking out PHD2 and particularly electronic focusing routines. My scope is very temperature sensitive and refocuses every 0.5 degree change as well as every filter change which is quite time consuming especially with narrowband filters.

Great stuff - just need a clear night now! Well done.

In astroimaging Mp doesnt count for much.

The main advantage of a colour CCD over a DSLR is that they usually have cooling - the cooler the sensor the less noise in the images

The main advantage of a mono CCD over DSLR is the cooling again but with massively increased sensitivity and speed. But it comes at a price - you will also need a filter wheel and a set of filters and a PC to control everything.

I am over simplifying this but that's the bones of it. To start with your DSLR will serve you well and there are many great pictures taken with a DSLR. Personally I would jump straight from DSLR to Mono CCD/CMOS.

The requirements for imaging nebulae and plants are very different - nebulae can be pretty big whereas planets are tiny and require longer focal length and often video is sued to image planets followed by stacking the video frames whereas nebulae usually require lots of long exposures and a shorter focal length.

Hope that helps - shout out if you need help.

2 hours ago, Adreneline said:

I've been struggling today because I have now discovered that even when operating the pi3 headless I still need to shut it down in an orderly manner; I've managed to set up SSH so I can shut it down from the MacBook but not before having to reinstall the OS and the AllSky software. When it comes to Pi matters I am a complete novice!

I too am a RPi novice - this was the first time I had ever used one. I tried all sorts to get proper control over it remotely and the best solution I have found is with VNC Viewer/server. With two clicks of the mouse on my indoor Windows machine I have the Rpi desktop on my my Windows desktop which gives total control.

I haven't found it fussy about how its closed down - I know I shouldn't but I usually just disconnect the power and bring it inside - no problems so far!

I found this site extremely useful and I am pretty sure it works with a Muk book 😉 https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/remote-access/vnc/?fbclid=IwAR3HH5SZPx6L1AtAAfrldjno3cmL0XODTVE6E5WCxx7oEYIejUX17499pn4

1 hour ago, banjaxed said:

Thanks for the tip but the tripod clamp is plastic. Those welding rods look like a great solution for metal repairs.

Ah - OK - best not go at it with a blowtorch then !!!  😉 

5 minutes ago, 1parsec said:

You can make the worm adjustment in daytime.

This true but to get it spot on you will need to do it again for a final tweak when the mount is at the temperature you would usually use it at.

I found this with an AZ-EQ6-GT - it was perfect in the lounge but when it was -5 degrees some backlash had returned and a final tweak got it spot on.

This is one of the best resources I have found for adjusting this - http://www.astro-baby.com/EQ6 rebuild guide/EQ6 worm alignment.htm

Cant comment on the guiding issue - I have never used that piece of software.

Have you tried the aluminium brazing rods form 'Chronos' ??

Really easy to use and good professional result.

I have repaired gearbox casings with these before now and they are still going strong.

Remove it from the leg before you start with the blowtorch! 😉 

Hi Adrian

We are using different cameras but these are the settings I am using at the moment (see below) - bear in mind we have Bortle 3 skies here! 

The exp settings are milliseconds ie 1000 = 1 second - on earlier versions it was microseconds.

This is my latest attempt - you can clearly see the reflection of the writing on the lens inside the dome - I need to mess about with the height of the camera in the dome.

Shout out if I can help you.

I ran 17kgs on my Avalon and it never missed a beat.

A few things I did notice were ....

It likes short aggressive corrections from the guiding system

It is quite sensitive to balance - it needs to be good

Its quite easy to get total RMS down to 0.5" but very hard to get it any better

Roundness and tightness of stars is almost always better than the guide graph would suggest (belt elasticity?)

A few photos about a third of the way down this page https://www.davidbanksastro.com/equipment

Great mount - you will love it when you get it dialled in.